


Late Night Revelations

by godaime_obito



Series: Madatobi Week 2018 [7]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Tokyo Ghoul, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, MadaTobi Week 2018, Some Tokyo Ghoul Canon-Typical Medical Horror Type Stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-06-21 13:43:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15558993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godaime_obito/pseuds/godaime_obito
Summary: Madatobi week; August 4th: Free Day!Tobirama really didn't see this coming. Although, in hindsight there were a lot of hints.





	1. A Revealing Walk

Tobirama heads back to his dorm from his evening class. He needs to drop of his things and get ready to meet with Madara. A date at 9pm is likely late by normal standards, but with their hectic schedules it was the best they could manage. Abnormal date times aside, the months, almost a full year now, since they started dating have been absolutely wonderful.

Madara and Tobirama are different majors, business and pre-law respectively, but there is enough overlap between them that they had several classes together the beginning of Tobirama’s second year and Madara’s third. United by a mutual distaste for an arrogant professor they simply fell into dating. Now Madara’s graduation is coming soon, and Tobirama will be finishing out his last year and then going to law school, after he moves into the workforce. All that change will probably have its rough points, but he knows they’ll pull through fine. They’ve found a lot more in common than just hating that professor since they started dating.

Arriving at his room, he tosses his things onto his bed and checks himself quickly in the bathroom mirror. Once he’s sure he looks good, and not like he just spent an hour and a half having his brain numbed by his statistics class, he heads back out. Madara is waiting for him at their favorite coffee shop. Tobirama’s always had what Hashirama calls ‘a dangerous coffee addiction’, but he’s not sure how he would’ve made it through any college without it. Luckily, he doesn’t just drink a lot of coffee, he genuinely enjoys coffee. Madara is the only person he’s met who seems to like it even more than him, and they enjoy going on upscale coffee dates.

Tobirama steps into the café with only a couple minutes to spare. He spots Madara at their usual table, and notices that he already has their coffee orders. Efficiency is very attractive. Madara’s is part of his charm, even if he’s horribly blunt because of it. He doesn’t mind that; he’d be a hypocrite if he did.

“How was class?” Madara asks, setting down his drink as Tobirama slides into the seat across from him.

“The same as usual,” he groans out, and takes a deep drink from his cup. Ah, coffee, what would he do without you? He feels better already. “How were yours?”

“Fine,” Madara replies, but his face says otherwise. Tobirama levels him dry look, still sipping his coffee.

“It’s nothing important,” he says in response, his nose crinkling in disgust. “I could just swear I smelt something bad all over campus,” he clarifies, and returns to his drink.

That’s a bit odd, but not that much of a surprise. Madara has always had a very sensitive sense of smell. Scents Tobirama doesn’t notice at all have bothered him several times before. Someone probably carried something weird around campus with them and he picked up on the traces of it all day.

“I’m sure the smell will be dissipated by your first class tomorrow,” Tobirama says. Madara doesn’t seem reassured though. He’s frowning crossly at his coffee. Really, what’s he so worried about from a smell? He’s never so angry about the other scents he’s complains about.

As they get caffeine into their systems the date picks up, and Madara’s oddly strong reaction to the smell is forgotten. There’s really nothing like a good cup of coffee or two in the company of someone you care about.  Tobirama is finishing his second cup as eleven passes.

“We ought to be heading back to the dorms,” he reluctantly says. He pushes himself up from the table, and reaches his hand out. Madara grasps it and stands up as well.

“I suppose we should be in our rooms by midnight. Even though there’s no curfew, that RA is always blowing their top,” he agrees.

They head back slowly, enjoying walking the normally busy streets without anyone else around. The night air is cool, but Tobirama’s hand is warm where it rests in Madara’s. As they near the edge of campus he notices Madara becoming twitchy. Looking over his shoulder and staring at the shadows, as if he feels someone is watching them. It’s unsettling, and Tobirama would dismiss it as paranoia from the dark, however, though they’ve walked home late before he can’t remember Madara ever acting like this.

He forces his gaze away from a dark area and looks at Tobirama nervously. “Please, go ahead without me tonight,” he says suddenly.

“Are you sure? Back to my own room?” he asks. Normally they’d go back to Madara’s dorm for a while before Tobirama heads back to his, since Madara doesn’t have a roommate.

“Yes, sorry. I, uh, remembered I need to take care of something,” Madara replies, staring back towards the same pitch-black spot.

“Okay. I’ll see you later,” Tobirama says. He leans over to kiss Madara’s cheek, and pulls away. He can already hear Madara heading in the direction he was looking as he continues towards his dorm, and makes the split-second decision to turn back. Normally he’d trust him, but Madara’s been acting strange and he’s getting worried. What if he’s gotten himself into trouble? He has to check on him.

Tobirama approaches slowly, keeping his footsteps as light as he can, and ducks around a corner near where Madara headed. He can make out his dim figure nearing a second person, but he’s too far to tell who it is.  He moves in closer as Madara appears to argue with the other person about something. Peering out from a closer corner, a street light near the two of them gives him just enough light to see. The other person is a man with straight dark hair, long and tied near the end, and startlingly light eyes that have no apparent pupils. He’s close enough now that he can make out some of what’s being said.

“Do you really think you can walk around Uchiha land, Hyuuga?” Madara says, practically growling at the other man, Hyuuga, Tobirama supposes. He hopes Madara isn’t planning to brawl in the streets.

“I really think this won’t be Uchiha land much longer,” Hyuuga replies. His voice is deep, with a nauseatingly arrogant quality, and on second thought he wouldn’t blame Madara if he punched him a time or two. They do begin fighting then, but it’s not at all in the manner Tobirama had just imagined.

Hyuuga’s eyes change quickly from nearly all white, to nearly all black, and his back erupts with red. Four, large, reaching, tendrils spread out from him, and he pushes himself up on two of them. The other two tentacles point down at Madara and stab towards him from their vantage point.

Tobirama gasps to himself, and makes an aborted lunge forward, before pulling himself more firmly behind the corner as Madara’s back erupts also. Deep purple spreads out behind him like feathers. The mockery of a single wing behind him. Madara jumps back, letting the tendrils slam into the concrete where he was just standing. Dust and shards of stone billow into the air.

Madara’s wing seems to crystalize, glittering like amethyst in the dim street light. He pierces through the settling dust, shooting shards of his wing back towards Hyuuga. A rain of beautiful and deadly projectiles. Some of the shards imbed into the tentacles as they pull back, others dig into the already wrecked concrete.

As the two red tendrils rear back, resembling sharp clawed fingers, ready to continue their assault, Madara throws himself forward at the ones holding Hyuuga up. Faster and nimbler than the red forms, and the man they are attached to, he knocks them out from under his attacker with little resistance. Grappling one and pinning it down he drives a storm of amethyst shards directly into one area of it.

He retreats back as the other tendrils approach him, but doesn’t let go of the one he had held down. Weakened by the shards it snaps apart, spraying red everywhere. Hyuuga lets out an enraged screech, and throws himself forward, running with all three of his remaining tentacles up. He attacks Madara in a barrage of berserker style thrust. The clawed ends of the tendrils sending more concrete dust into the air, so much so that Tobirama can barely make out what’s going on now.

Hyuuga’s renewed furry turns out to be for naught. He lands one strong piercing hit, but overall Madara is too fast for him. Hyuuga collapses as his tentacles retreat into him, purple shards rooted in almost every inch of him. He’s fighting to remain conscious.

Madara is panting, tired from expelling so many shards, and clutching at his wounded side where the other’s one good hit landed. He trudges closer to Hyuuga and spits on him.

“When you can get your sorry ass up, go tell your clan to stay out, or this will look like a children’s quarrel,” he hisses. Hyuuga does seem to fall unconscious then.

Tobirama had remained frozen for the duration of the fight, completely unprepared to witness what must be a territory dispute between ghouls, but now everything is crashing down on him. Madara was just in a ghoul territory dispute. Madara is a _ghoul._ He’s dated him for nearly a year, and never noticed anything. Has he ever seen Madara eat? They’ve certainly never gone for dinner together. He never thought that was strange before. Their thing is coffee, not dinner, but now he thinks perhaps not even having dinner once should have been a red flag.

Madara is hurt. He’s still clutching his side, heading in the direction of his dorm slowly. Tobirama needs to help him, didn’t he come check on him to help? But, god, a ghoul, all this time. Suddenly, he falls forward, his large mane of dark hair sprawling around him as his wing disappears. Tobirama sucks in a deep breath and steadies himself as well as he can. Madara is his boyfriend, and he needs his help right now. It isn’t practical to worry about that now. He’ll carry him back to his dorm, make sure he’s okay, and then… he’ll have to confront him about it. Later.

This can’t be much harder to figure out than their post-graduation schedules, and he was sure they could do that.


	2. An Overdue Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm continuing this fic! I'm not sure how long it'll be or how often it will update. I'm going for a sort of dark comedy vibe. Feel free to ask questions about the 'verse and such in the comments, because it really helps me flesh at the world in my head.

Tobirama drags Madara back to his dorm and drops him on the floor. He could lay him on the couch, but blood would get on it. He might also be a tad bit upset with him, so on the floor he’ll stay. Leaving him on the ground, Tobirama heads to the bathroom to look for something to do first aid with. Madara has a surprisingly professional kit under the sink. Although, considering what he just learned maybe he shouldn’t be so shocked.

Tobirama sets the first aid kit down next to Madara, and starts maneuvering off his torn shirt. He’d remove the pants to be sure his legs aren’t hurt, but it would be a real challenge to get those off and there doesn’t seem to be any bleeding. Madara can check himself, whenever he’s able to remove his own pants.

Tobirama disinfects and bandages the cuts and scrapes. The spot on Madara’s back the wing-ish thing had come out of is undamaged. In fact, he doesn’t seem as badly hurt as he first looked. Faster than human heeling is probably the only good discovery Tobirama’s made today. Deciding to have pity on him now that he knows he won’t get blood everywhere he moves Madara all the way to his bed. Tobirama has never been so thankful he takes the time to work out, even though it is a stretch on his busy schedule.

It may be a while before Madara wakes up, and he is physically and mentally exhausted. The empty spot on the mattress next to him his rather tempting. It wouldn’t be the first time he slept over, and he can put off worrying about this until the morning. He finally removes Madara’s shoes, then his own, and lays down next to him, careful not to rub against the bandaged areas despite the tight fit. As he falls asleep next to Madara’s warmth, he realizes he didn’t set an alarm. They may end up missing a few classes, but Tobirama can’t find the energy to care about that right now.

* * *

 

When Tobirama returns to awareness he’s pressed solidly against something. It doesn’t take long to understand he’s snuggled against Madara. His head is against his shoulder, and an arm is thrown over his waist. Their legs are twinned rendering him immobile. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence, as Madara is prone to pulling him closer and sleep-snuggling him like a lecherous octopus.

Tobirama pulls himself away and stands. It wouldn’t do to get caught cuddling when he’s about to give Madara a piece of his mind. He has to project the proper amount of anger and displeasure to get his point across. He sorts through Madara’s dresser. Tobirama left spare clothes here at some point, and he’d like to clean up while he’s still asleep. Unfortunately, there likely isn’t time for a shower.

Tobirama is just finishing pulling on his spare clothes and brushing through his hair when Madara begins to stir. Hopefully this can be over with in time for him to make his second class. If he can keep the flailing from starting in earnest this conversation may not drag on too long.

“Madara,” he began, “Do you want to explain to me what you’ve been thinking?”

His question gets a blink in response. Madara sits up slowly as he inspects his bandages, looking rather befuddled.

“I, uh,” he stutters, “you saw that?”

“Yes,” Tobirama deadpans. “I was worried about your strange behavior, and I wanted to be sure you were alright, but it seems you’re much sturdier than you’d led me to believe,” he adds bitingly.

“You don’t seem too, well, upset,” Madara replies, “At least not like I thought you’d be.”

“Oh, don’t get it wrong. I am very upset, just not about what you clearly expected. I am upset that we’ve been together this long and you’ve been _lying_ to me,” he accused. Tobirama is doing his best to keep his tone cool, but he isn’t quite succeeding.

Madara stiffens in response. “I never lied to you! It’s not like you asked if I was a ghoul. It didn’t come up,” he deflects.

“You lied by omission,” Tobirama says, “You know very well that’s something I would’ve liked to know, and just hadn’t considered.”

“I thought you’d freak out, like a normal human,” he says looking away. Madara’s beginning to pout now.

“I’ve never once freaked out, as you put it, in my entire life, and frankly I’m insulted you’d think that of me,” Tobirama replies. Madara has done many stupid things in the time they’ve been together, but really this is the dumbest. “And stop pouting,” he adds.

“I’m not pouting,” he blusters, “And I know that now! I didn’t know when we first met and then it never felt like the right time to break the news, so I thought I’d just fake it until we broke up or died.”

“You are an idiot.”

Madara begins to say something, then shuts his mouth harshly, thinking better of it. He deflates, sighing tiredly. “I’m sorry. You’re really not upset I’m a ghoul?” he asks.

It’s hard to be upset with him at all when he looks like that. “I am not,” Tobirama replies, “I understand where you are coming from, but I’m disappointed. And your being a ghoul does raise several issues I want to discuss, but that can wait till after we’re done with class, because you’ve already missed your first one and I’m running late to mine.”

With that said he gathers his things from the floor, it isn’t everything he’d normally have but it’ll do, and heads toward the door. He turns as he pushes it open to find Madara staring at him competitively.

“Go to class, and we’ll meet here when we’re both done to talk properly. Prepare yourself,” Tobirama instructs him, and then lets the door swing shut behind him.

He walks briskly toward his class feeling partially relieved. That went fairly well, and Madara seems sincere in what he said, so this is repairable yet. Just one more harsh conversation. A few rough meetings as well, because there’s no way he isn’t going to find out about Madara’s always mysteriously unavailable family now. Itama was right when Tobirama brought home his first boyfriend and he told him his taste in men was going to be trouble. He’ll never live this down.


	3. Not Quite a Dinner Date

Madara is on his way back from his final class. He’s spent the last several hours feeling both a large amount of dread and a fair amount of disbelief, as if the last day or two have been a strange lucid dream. Unfortunately, Madara is unlikely to be that lucky. The next Hyuuga he sees isn’t being let off to send a warning.

He has an hour before Tobirama gets back from his last class, and while Madara _could_ use it to imagine fun ways to kill that Hyuuga, he’s better off thinking of what he’s going to say to him. Maybe, ‘very sorry you found out this way,’ or, ‘promise I don’t kill humans often?’ How about, ‘now you know why I don’t ever take you to see my family,’ because that’s a disaster of a meeting he’s been awkwardly avoiding for a while now. Oh no. What if his family finds out Tobirama found out? Izuna will probably suggesting eating him and he doesn’t want to start feuding with his brother. Out of hand in fighting is the death of many ghoul families.

Madara is going to make coffee for both of them, sand some nice human food for Tobirama, because he might as well get him in as good of a mood as he can. While he’s doing that he can decide what to say. Prepare himself as Tobirama said. What will he ask? What does he want to talk about? Madara isn’t sure he can prepare after all. He has no idea what he’s doing. Maybe coffee and honesty are his best bet. It’s worth a try.

Tobirama arrives shortly after Madara sets their coffee down next to the food. Class does not seem to have improved his mood. He better get this over with. Rip off the band-aid.

“Welcome back,” he says with all the cheer he can muster, “I thought we could talk over dinner.”

“That sounds fine,” Tobirama says evenly, “but aren’t you going to eat?”

“I’m not hungry, and I think my eating might damage your appetite,” he replies.

“Eventually you’ll have to. If we stay together long enough. Which I hope we will.”

“I guess so,” Madara sighs, “later, I suppose.”

“Wonderful,” Tobirama says, and sips his coffee. “While we are on the topic, where will you get that from?”

“Where do I get what I eat?” Madara replies blankly.

“Yes Madara, tell me where it’s coming from. I presume it’s rather important that I know if you’re killing anyone,” he clarifies. He looks less frazzled that he did walking in from class, but somehow even more serious.

“A few places. Are you sure you want to hear this now, while you eat?” he says reluctantly.

“Yes.” He takes an exaggerated bite.

“Some of it’s a type of medical waste from hospitals, some of it’s of fresh bodies who’ve died on their own somehow, and some of it’s from people the family hunts. I haven’t killed anyone myself in years. But I _have_ killed people,” Madara intones. There, band-aid removed. He hates open communication.

“ _The family_ ,” Tobirama contemplates, “what is your family like? I will be meeting them, won’t I? I hope you have some kind of plan.” He doesn’t mention Madara killing people. He doesn’t find much reason to tell on it now. He assumed it from the moment he found out he was a ghoul.

“What’s there to say? They’re ghouls. Old family, you know? Very… stuck in their ways. Not fond of humans,” he replies. Frowning he considers Tobirama meeting them. “You don’t have to meet them. I’m sure they’ll never push to meet you. Izuna’s the only one who ever mentions you and it’s only to tease me.”

“I don’t’ heave to meet them, but I want to. I don’t want you to split yourself between two separate lives. I don’t want you to start to think of this as either or.”

Madara rubs his temples and lets out a long groan. “I’ll think of something then. It probably won’t be soon.”

“That’s fine,” Tobirama replies, “but there’s one more thing. Who was that man you fought, and will you be doing that again?”

“Your ability to state things so mundanely when they’re anything but has always been part of your charm.” All Madara gets in response is a lifted eyebrow. “He was part of another ghoul family that’s territory boarders ours. The Hyuuga. They’re trying to press into our area, but I think I scared them off for now. It’s possible I, or my family, will be fighting more of them if they decide they’re dumb enough to come back,” he answers. Suddenly he’s very tired. He doesn’t want to think about his family or the Hyuuga for at least a month after all this.

“I want to hear about it if they do. Do not just send me off, or try to hind it from me again,” Tobirama says solemnly. He’s started grimacing in the determined way he does when he’s plotting something that sounds crazy in theory, but somehow works in practice.

“You’re going to have a lot to say about how to handle them aren’t you?” Madara laments.

“Perhaps. We can talk about when you finally tell me what you’re doing about your family,” he snarks, “I don’t have any other questions for now. I suppose you are out of the doghouse now.” He stands up from the table with a teasing smirk, and leaves all the dishes with Madara.

Doing all of the dishes and spending the majority of a day in the doghouse is a small price to pay. Madara will take this punishment without complaint. He picks up their cups, and Tobirama’s plate and silverware. There is a surprising number of dishes in his kitchen also waiting to be washed, especially considering he’s a ghoul and only uses mugs. When he finishes them and heads back to his little room Tobirama is already asleep in Madara’s bed. He carefully slips in next to Tobirama as not to wake him. He had a long, stressful, couple of days. They both deserve more sleep.


	4. Some Time Apart

Life goes on. Things don’t really change much, and most days there’s nothing that hints Tobirama knows. Madara is stalled by the thought of how normal it is every now and again, waiting for a tipping point. It may very well be today, when they both head back to their families for the break between the fall and spring semesters. He promised Tobirama he would talk to Izuna, his only remaining immediate family other than his father. It’s a relief that he excepted that as enough for now, but it could still end in disaster. If Izuna decides to tell their father things will go downhill fast.

The family estate isn’t too far from campus. After all, it is part of their territory, although as far as ghoul territories go the family’s is vast. It’s a fairly short train ride and an even shorter walk home. When he walks through the front gates no one is in view, but he can feel members of the family wandering about; distant relatives keeping watch. His father and Izuna are waiting for him just inside the main house.

His brother is grinning at him, already looking like he’s thought of some great joke at Madara’s expense. Glancing over at the look on his father’s face it’s likely a look of schadenfreude. He sent word ahead to Tajima about the Hyuuga, but it doesn’t look like it was far enough ahead for his temper to cool. He can’t wait to hear everything he did wrong during the encounter, and everything the Hyuuga have ever done wrong (mainly exist).

“Madara,” Tajima bellows, “Have you been keeping watch?”

“Watch?” he asks.

“Have you been watching the edges of our territory, near the university? I want to know if the Hyuuga come pocking around again,” he clarifies.

“Of course, I have been,” Madara says. It’s only partly a fib. He’s been watching, just not as much as he should be. He can’t help that he’s busy with university and Tobirama. He hardly wants to neglect him and give more of a reason for him to be upset with Madara.

“Keep it up then,” Tajima orders, “If they step an inch out of line we’ll gut them.” He stalks out of the room, likely to order someone else around, leaving Madara and Izuna alone. Tajima must be too busy to tear into him today.

“So…” Izuna prompts, “How’s playing with your food going?” He smirks sharply.

“I’ve told you,” Madara growls, “I’m not playing with Tobirama, and stop calling him _food_.”

“Lighten up,” he says, “I’m serious about wanting to know what is going on with him. You’ve been… dating… him a long time now.” His face screws up when he says ‘dating’ and the word comes out both confused and disgusted.

“We’ve been having fun, that’s all,” he defends, “I like him. There’s nothing wrong about that.” Madara isn’t ready to bring up Tobirama having found out, especially like this. There are more days left in his break; he can bring it up later.

“I guess not,” Izuna says with narrowed eyes. He doesn’t seem to completely believe there’s nothing weird going on, but saying anything more will only make him more suspicious.

“I’m going to my room,” Madara says, “I didn’t have a chance to settle in before father summoned me.” He does his best not to look like he’s retreating, even though that’s exactly what he’s doing.

He spends the week talking about the Hyuuga, and the other nearby clans, strategizing. Basically, he stalls, and he stalls, and he avoids the topic of talking to his family about him when texting Tobirama until break is almost over. Madara returns to campus tomorrow and he needs to do something before he goes back or he’ll be in the doghouse, again. He really can’t tell his father, not unless he wants a disaster. At least, he’ll spill to Izuna.

Madara corners him in the hall when none of the other member of the family are around late in the day.

“Do you need something?” Izuna asks. He crosses his arms with a huff, clearly already fed up with Madara’s off behavior.

“I want to talk to you before I go back,” he says.

“What is it that you haven’t mentioned it the entire time you’ve been here?”

“It’s about Tobirama,” Madara admits.

“Happy meal?” Izuna sneers.

“Ye - Wait – _happy meal_?!” he screeches.

“He’s lunch and a toy,” Izuna explains, “like a happy meal.”

“He’s not food, or a toy,” Madara grinds out through clenched teeth, “In fact, that’s what we need to talk about.”

“What do you mean?”

“He knows. About me. Us. He saw me fight the Hyuuga,” he admits.

“What?!” Izuna hisses, “Does father know? Wait, of course not, we’d _all_ have heard the fall out if he did. And happy meal’s just walking around?”

“Don’t freak out,” Madara pleads, “He’s not going to tell anyone I swear. I’ve said we were serious before, and we are.”

“You really believe that,” Izuna says, face screwed up in scrutiny, “Don’t you? That he’s… what? Just fine with it? Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Keep it down. I don’t want father to find out yet,” he says, looking around as if the man may have appeared beside them, “He has _some_ issues, but we’re working it out, okay? We’re still together.”

Izuna heaves a great sigh, shoving his face into his hands. “Why the fuck not,” his muffled voice says, “You’re going to get into trouble, nii-san.”

“Don’t worry about it now, just, promise you won’t tell father.”

“Fine,” another sigh, “I won’t tell him, _for now_ , but I want to meet him in person. _Soon._ ” Izuna pins him with his gaze, harsh and intent. He won’t be letting this go and even if he continues to joke at Tobirama’s expense, the human himself certainly isn’t just a joke to him anymore.

“Deal,” Madara says, “Come by the university when you have the time and I’ll arrange it.”

Then, in all honesty, he runs away before Izuna can change his mind. Madara pulls out his cellphone in the safety of his room, surrounded by his only half packed bags, and stares at it. He’s been avoiding calling while at the family estate, but he really wants to hear his boyfriend’s voice right now. To call or to text? He should see Tobirama tomorrow, but… one call won’t hurt.


	5. Meet the In-Law

Tobirama is glad to be back on campus. Don’t get him wrong, he loves visiting his family and having time off, but it gets overwhelming. Hashirama is so clingy, Kawarama and Touka keep pranking him, and Itama wants to know every _single_ **_thing_** that happened during the semester. That was especially frustrating this time, when he had something to purposefully keep from Itama. He’s not particularly a fan of keeping things from his family, but there’s no way telling them would end well. They’re overprotective enough now when they think Madara’s a human. One of them would call the CCG for sure.

He puts that unpleasant thought out of his mind. He understood why Madara didn’t want to call, afraid of being overheard saying something suspicious, but he was still glad to finally get a call yesterday, and Tobirama’s even more glad that he will being seeing him in person soon. Madara should have already gotten off of the train. Tobirama flits around Madara’s dorm, making sure his things are put away and pouring the coffee he brewed for them.

He wants Madara to take a breather before unpacking. Drink some coffee, sit down, catch up with Tobirama. Tell him more about his talk with Izuna and what is going on with his father. He mentioned it some over the phone, but he was still to afraid of being overheard to go into detail. The whole break was frustrating all around. Even before finding out he was a ghoul, meeting Madara dampened his break because he spent so much time missing him, and this whole mess just made it worse.

“Honey I’m home,” Madara bellows out as the door slams open. God, how did a man with no subtlety keep such a big secret from him so long?

“Welcome back dear,” Tobirama deadpans. “Sit down your bags and have a seat,” he instructs, “I made coffee.”

“Thank you,” he says, dropping his imitation sitcom tone, “That sounds nice. How was your break?”

“Lovely,” he replies in between sips, “Hashirama cried when I left, Itama told me I could do better than you at least fourteen times, and Touka and Kawarama tie-dyed my favorite shirt.”

“The usual then?”

“Yes,” he sighs, “How was your break? Izuna?”

“Could have been worse,” Madara says, “Izuna really wanted to meet with you after I told him you knew.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“I promised him I would arrange it when I got back. I didn’t want him telling father yet,” he explains. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t. I was hoping to meet him eventually,” Tobirama says, “I can make time to stop by here and meet him whenever I don’t have class.”

“I’ll let him know. Can you not worry about all that for a while?” Madara pleads, “Let’s forget about my family and just sit down. We can even point out inaccuracies in police dramas.”

“I do love doing that. I suppose it will be nice to relax for a bit,” he admits.

They make it through three episodes of Law and Order, with Madara stretched out across the couch, head in Tobirama’s lap, before they grow tired of legal inaccuracies. Or more accurately, before Tobirama grows to angry at a specific inaccuracy to watch anymore.

“That’s ridiculous,” he fumes, “even someone with no law training should know it doesn’t work that way.”

“It was necessary for the episodes plot,” Madara defends.

“They should just right a different episode then.”

“Sounds like someone isn’t having fun anymore.”

“Perhaps not,” Tobirama readily admits.

“We could do something else,” Madara suggests, “something you’ll find more fun.”

“What would that be?” he asks, in a tone that leaves know don’t he knows exactly what it is.

He doesn’t reply. Instead, Madara sits up from his lap and pulls Tobirama towards him. Pressing their lips together gently, he slides his hands over him, mapping out the familiar curves and edges of Tobirama’s body. They remain on the couch, molding both their lips and bodies together, reconnecting after the time they spent apart, for the rest of the night. It’s warm and soft, edged by familiar arousal, but not overwhelmed by it. Neither of them caring to take it further when they’re so tired and so eager to just lie against each other and enjoy the feeling of their lover’s presence.

* * *

 

The next day reality comes knocking. Or more literally Izuna does. Madara knew he was serious about meeting Tobirama, but he didn’t expect him to rush over so quickly after he texted him late last night. He walks right past Madara, a ghoul on a mission, and b-lines for where Tobirama is eating lunch at the table.

Despite Izuna’s surprise arrival, practically an ambush, Tobirama is the one who manages to get off the first word. “Based on your abrupt entrance and the fact that you look like Madara if he had both less hair and less eye-bags, I’m going to guess you’re Izuna.”

“That’s right,” Izuna says, smiling a bit too tightly. Turning back to look at Madara he adds, “He’s awfully snarky, isn’t he?”

“I believe I’ve mentioned it once or twice,” he replies curtly. His body is wound tensely as he restrains himself from moving in-between the two of them.

“I’m going to be honest and admit I never really paid attention when you talked about your human before,” he says, “but I suppose that was my mistake.”

“Indeed,” Tobirama deadpans.

“Why don’t you tell me about yourself?” Izuna prompts, sitting down at the table. It’s phrased like a question, but the tone tells a different story.

“I’m in pre-law. I plan to go to law school after one more year here,” he offers.

“A lawyer~ That’s interesting,” he says. His expression has loosened some, but Tobirama still isn’t sure anything about him or what he says is currently genuine. “So,” Izuna adds casually, “what was it like finding out your boyfriend is a far superior ghoul?”

He snorts. “Ghoul? Yes. Far superior? No,” he states flatly, “He doesn’t even know the scientific method and he couldn’t participate in small talk with a stranger on the best of days.” Tobirama can at least fake his way through small talk if he needs to. Madara, who has been steadily glaring at his brother, falters for a moment to glare at his boyfriend instead.

Izuna chuckles, a short and surprised burst. He clamps his mouth shut as quickly as he can, cutting himself off. “I suppose you can stay, but I’ll be keeping an eye on you,” he says disdainfully and pushes himself up from his seat.

“And I’ll keep an eye on your brother’s ass.”

“Fair enough!” Izuna says as Madara chokes in the background. “You’re not so bad. Nii-san seems to really like you and you’ve got good attitude,” he adds, “I’ll see you around.” He retreats out of the dorm almost as quickly as he arrived.

“Your little brother’s kind of an ass.”

“I know.”

* * *

 

A week passes in blissful normality. They have classes, they do assignments, they hang out in Madara’s special dorm - Tobirama is now certain he’s getting it through ghoul connections – and they go on the occasional date. The two of them are returning from one of those dates, a trip to a cheesy action movie, when Madara makes a peculiar face. It’s an unfortunately familiar face.

“Is that your _I-just-smelled-a-Hyuuga-face_?” Tobirama hisses.

“My what?”

“The face you made last time, before you fought that ghoul. It’s the same one,” he elaborates. “Did you smell something?”

“It’s not really important-”

“Madara,” he says reprimanding.

“Okay, maybe, _maybe_ , while walking here on the edge of my family’s territory, I smelled a Hyuuga or three,” Madara says reluctantly.

“Three? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to need to alert the others. I’ll need back up.”

“Back up? Like your brother?” he asks.

“More than _just_ him, but yeah.” This is great. Right when they thought things were calming down.


	6. Everyone Has a Bad Feeling About This

Whatever Hyuuga left the sent behind weren’t in the area anymore, but the fact that they had been there couldn’t be ignored. Madara called his father. He and Izuna and however many other Uchiha came out, ready to confront the Hyuuga as soon as possible. Tobirama couldn’t say what the atmosphere of such a gathering was like as Madara insisted he stay away from it all. He doesn’t want to risk him meeting his father or that many ghouls in general.

Sitting on his dorm bed going over legal documents, Tobirama becomes more and more frustrated. The concern is understandable, but he can’t take this state of not knowing. As long as he doesn’t go near Madara’s room a bit of exploring campus can’t hurt. He just needs to see if he can find out what they’re doing.

* * *

 “Are this many people really necessary?” Madara asks.

“I told you that if they stepped an inch out of line we’d gut them,” Tajima replies, “and we’re about to gut them thoroughly.”

“If anyone causes trouble on campus it could mess up my semester,” he complains, “I want to get out of here in May.”

“So eager to get away from the humans,” he says, “I thought you were enjoying slumming it. Don’t you have a _boyfriend_? You’re not planning to keep hanging around him after you graduate, are you?”

“Well, he _is_ my boyfriend,” Madara says tersely.

“He _is_ a human.”

“I know,” he sighs, “can we talk about this after the Hyuuga are taken care of.”

“Of course, but don’t think I’ll forget,” he chides.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Madara grumbles. He slips out of his own dorm room, leaving it to his father and his men. Not far from the door Izuna appears.

“Nii-san,” he says, “Not having fun with father?”

“He took time out of his near single-minded plotting to annihilate the Hyuuga to reprimand me for my taste in men,” he deadpans.

“Ah,” Izuna says, suspiciously brightly, “Don’t worry about that. I know how much you like Tobirama and I have a plan.”

“A plan?” he says skeptically.

“I’m keeping it a surprise for now,” he grins, “Don’t look at me like that. Don’t you trust your little brother? I’m trying to help you.”

“Fine,” Madara says harshly, “but don’t think I’ll let it pass if you do anything stupid.”

“Oh, ye of little faith; It’ll be great,” Izuna asserts and then brushes past him to meet the others in his dorm. He has a bad feeling about this.

* * *

 Tobirama has a bad feeling about this. About everything. Campus and the nearby parts of the city are eerily quiet. He’s been searching for anyone out of place, Izuna or another Uchiha, for a couple of hours now and it’s starting to get dark. At first everything was normal, with the same number of students milling about as usual, but at some point, the area emptied out. Where is everyone?

He went out to see if he could discover anything about what’s happening despite Madara’s warnings and he’s found nothing. Unless the uneasy feeling something awful is happening nearby or will be happening soon. Tobirama isn’t a reckless fool, he knows when to cut his losses before curiosity kills that cat. He turns around and walks hastily toward is dorm, doing his best not to be overly obvious about his discomfort. No one is around to see, yet it feels like running back would summon any nearby trouble to him.

The sound of his hurried footsteps on the pavement is his only companion back to his dorm. Tobirama slips into the building with a sigh of relief, finally slowing to a more normal walking pace on his way to his room. Madara better let him know what happened first thing tomorrow.

When he reaches his door, he’s struck with his earlier feeling of unease, only twice as strong. His door is cracked slightly opened. He locked that door when he left. Tobirama always closes and locks his door. He takes a deep breath and reasons with himself. He does have a roommate, even if he’s normally with his girlfriend and rarely comes to their dorm. He could have stopped by for some reason and not shut the door when he left.

Tobirama swings the door open and steps into the darken room. He flips on the light.

“Fuck,” he gasps, stepping back. “What are you doing here? How did you get the door open?” he demands.

“The locks in these dorms are cheap,” Izuna says, “They’re shockingly easy to break.”

“You _broke_ my lock,” he fumes, “and that doesn’t explain why you broke my lock and sat in the dark in my dorm.”

“It’s about Madara,” he admits.

“Madara?” Tobirama’s starting to get worried. “Is he okay?”

“He is now, but if something isn’t done before the fighting is over father may change that,” Izuna says. “It’s looking like they’re going to end up fighting. Over _you_. I don’t think Madara’s experienced enough to take on father alone,” he explains tersely.

Madara definitely didn’t mention that was going to happen to him or even that it was a possibility. He can’t let him get into a losing fight with his own father. “What do you want me to do? Why did you come to tell me this?”

“If you come with me I know how we can stop them before it gets that far,” he offers.

He doesn’t like this, but Izuna seems like he’s being honest and if there’s any chance that its true Tobirama must do _something_. “Okay,” he reluctantly agrees.

* * *

 Getting happy meal here was easier than he thought it would be. Izuna almost feels bad for taking advantage of how much he actually cares about Madara, but technically nothing he said was a lie. There’s only a few steps left in the plan, although the remaining steps are, of course, the hardest.

“Hikaku,” he calls over as he leads Tobirama into the safe-house. “Did you bring in the guest I asked you to?”

“Yes,” he answers, “He’s waiting in the backroom just like you asked. There’s a cot for your guest ready as well.”

“Wonderful,” Izuna cheers, “you know what to do.”

Hikaku nods and retreats into the backroom. There’s muffled groaning and the clinking of glass coming from it. Quiet enough he doubts human ears could really pick up on it.

“So, Tobirama, are you ready? Step into the back with me and I’ll take care of everything,” he instructs.

“I came this far. I might as well go in now. I doubt you’d let me leave if I tried as strange as you’re being,” he observes.

“Wow! You really are smart,” he remarks, too sharp smile fixed into place again. “Let’s go then!”

There’s a shirtless man strapped down to a metal table in the center of the room. He’s gagged, but awake, staring out with white Hyuuga eyes. His left leg is severed below the knee, and one of his hands is gone.

“Oh god,” Tobirama gasps and steps back toward the door.

Before he can get anywhere Izuna grabs him. Hikaku steps away from a table full of medical supplies set to the side of the Hyuuga and an empty cot and covers his mouth with a rag. He struggles in Izuna’s hold and tries to move away from the hand, but he makes no headway against their ghoul strength.

“Calm down. When we wake up you’ll be in better health then you’ve ever been,” Izuna says, not quite managing to sound reassuring. He tosses Tobirama over his shoulder and carries him to the empty cot when he finally loses consciousness. “I hope you’ve been brushing up on your medic skills and your knowledge of human and ghoul anatomy Hikaku,” he says, “because we’re breaking new ground here.”

“I have, but this could easily go very wrong,” he worries, “I’ve never heard of a kakuhou being transplanted into a human and I’m only half sure I’ve figured out where to put it.”

“Don’t look so grim! That’s part of the fun,” Izuna exclaims, stripping off Tobirama’s shirt. “If we manage this we get to be the first! We get to be mad scientists for a day.”

“That’s not nearly as appealing to me as it is to you,” Hikaku complains, but picks up a scalpel and walks over to the captives anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:3c


	7. Every end is a beginning, even the end of your (human) life

“Izuna,” Madara says, “What are you doing here? At an abandoned safe-house?”

“Nice of you to finally stop by,” he replies, “Hikaku and I have been preparing a surprise you! Away from the others.”

“A surprise,” he says skeptically. “Is this connected to the plan you mentioned yesterday?”

“That’s right! Worry no longer about having to speak with father, I’ve fixed your problem!”

“What do you mean by ‘problem’ and ‘fixed’,” Madara growls.

“The problem was father was mad about your human boyfriend and was going to punish you and kill him. It’s fixed because you don’t have a human boyfriend anymore,” Izuna explains.

“What!?!” he shrieks, “What did you do to Tobirama?!?!”

“Hikaku! Bring out the patient,” he instructs, backing slowly away from both Madara and the door to the backroom.

The door swings open. Hikaku props it open and retreats back into the room. He reappears quickly, pushing a small foldable wheel chair. Tobirama sits in it, strapped in place by thick leather restraints. His shirt is missing and there’s a suspicious incision in his abdomen, stitched closed unevenly.

“He hasn’t woken up yet, but he seems to be doing well,” Hikaku offers.

“Surprise! A ghoul boyfriend! Or half-ghoul? Not sure yet,” Izuna says cheerfully.

“You… you…” Madara forces through clenched teeth. “You two could have killed him!” he screams. “I can’t believe this, even for you this is reckless,” he adds, stalking toward Izuna.

“I am sorry nii-san,” he says earnestly, “I know it’s not ideal, but it’s working! And the only other options involved a 100% chance of him dying, unless you were actually going to break up with him and even then, if father found out he knew…” He draws a figure across his neck in a mimicry of beheading.

“Did you explain your idea to him? Did you find out what Tobirama would prefer? Or did you kidnap him and perform shady medical procedures on him without his knowledge?” he questions aggressively. He’s shaking in place with suppressed rage, slowly stepping closer to Izuna, crowding him against the wall.

“I didn’t technically kidnap him; he came here with me willingly, but I, uh, didn’t warn him about the surgery,” he says nervously, back hitting concrete.

Madara turns away from Izuna to glare down Hikaku. “Unstrap him from that chair, put his shirt back on, because I am going to carry him back to his dorm, where he should’ve been this entire time, while the two of you clean up the mess you made here.” He turns to face his brother again as Hikaku scurries off with Tobirama.

“When you’re done with that you and Hikaku are going to come wait outside of his room, and when I tell you to come in your going to get on your hands and knees to apologize and _beg_ for forgiveness,” he growls.

He steps back from Izuna and stomps to the backroom. He picks up Tobirama from his cot as gently as he can, cradling him close, moving back out of the room without acknowledging Hikaku following him or the Hyuuga still alive on the metal table.

He turns when he reaches the exit and adds intently, “You better pray to every deity you know that he does forgive you for this.” Madara turns and storms out, leaving the tense atmosphere behind with them.

* * *

 

Tobirama wakes up slowly, his fuzzy mind clearing as he blinks. He pushes himself up in a panic, remembering having been chloroformed. He’s back in his room, but he doesn’t know how he got here or what Izuna did to him while he was unconscious. His head spins as he gets out of bed and walks toward the door. He’s stopped to lean against the wall until the dizziness passes when Madara flings his door open.

“You’re up! How do you feel?” he says in a rush.

“A bit dizzy and confused, but it will pass,” Tobirama replies. “What did Izuna do?” he asks intensely. He fixes a serious look on Madara, but he just fidgets silently in return. “Madara, _please_ ,” he adds.

“Why don’t you come sit in the kitchen. I made you some coffee,” he offers. His brow is scrunched and shadowed, and his awkward attempt at a reassuring smile falters. “Are you… hungry?” he asks. That doesn’t sound good, but _maybe_ he’s just worried about Tobirama’s blood sugar.

“Too dizzy still, maybe later. I could probably use the coffee though, after the day I’ve had,” he groans.

Madara rushes forward to help support him as he pushes away from the wall and makes is way to the kitchen. For once he’s grateful for his tiny dorm. He doesn’t have far to walk. He breathes in the aroma of the cup Madara’s left sitting out with a relieved sigh.

“So,” Tobirama says, looking pointedly at him, “What happened? That Hyuuga…”

“I made sure they took care of him, don’t worry,” Madara says quickly, “As for what exactly happened, well, things got a little mad scientist. You might have felt the stitches pull.”

He has, but he hadn’t looked to be sure that was what the feeling was. “What? Did they steal my kidney? Just come out with it.”

“They didn’t remove anything from you. They, just uh, put something from the Hyuuga in,” he answers weakly. “I hope you don’t have a craving for any food ever again, because I’m not sure you can eat it anymore.”

“ _Excuse me_.” Tobirama was afraid he’d say something like. He made such an awful face when he asked if he was hungry. “Did your brother and his lackey _ghoulify_ me?”

“I don’t think that’s a word,” he deflects.

“Madara,” he growls. If he gets angry enough it may override the building panic.

“There’s one easy way to check,” Madara says reluctantly, gesturing at the small pantry. “Eat some chips,” he advises.

Tobirama sips at his coffee. He has a sudden appreciation for all the stalling Madara’s been doing. He really doesn’t want to have it confirmed, but logically not checking won’t keep it from being so. He stands up. He walks to the pantry in two long strides. He takes out an individual sized back of chips from the top shelf. He eats a handful or more accurately he tries to.

 He manages one small swallow and then begins to retch. “Oh god,” he a says, spitting pieces of chip out of his mouth. “I’m going to be sick,” he says faintly.

Madara rushes after him as he jogs to the tiny bathroom. This must be a record; grateful for his small dorm twice in one day. He sits back with a dull thumb when he finishes heaving into the toilet. Madara rubs at his shoulders trying to comfort him, but he can feel something moving in his back, pushing up at his skin from inside, and the memory of the chips is still heavy and disgusting in his stomach. His left eye aches and his breathing comes fast. Tobirama feels like he can’t breathe but the more desperately he tries to the worse the feeling gets. There are spots on the edge of his vision, swirling just out of reach.

“Deep breathes, please,” Madara says desperately, “Just take it slow. Can you feel this?” He squeezes his shoulders firmly and Tobirama nods minutely. “Good,” he says, “just breath in wen I squeeze and out when I let go, okay?” He gives a second even shakier nod.

He isn’t sure how long they sit on the cramped bathroom floor like that, Madara squeezing and releasing his shoulders at a slow steady pace. When the spots disappear from Tobirama’s sight and he can feel air in his lungs again he stands up. He moves, wobbly, over to the small mirror. His right eye is blessedly normal. His left eye is not. Tobirama stands and watches the black slowly fade from his sclera and the black veins extending from it recede, feeling steadier the more he returns to normal.

“What am I supposed to do? What about my family?” he questions, raspy and anguished.

“We’ll figure it out, I swear,” Madara assures him, “The family, my brother and cousin, got you into this, so the family will help you. We’ll think of something to tell your family.”

“What could we possible tell them to explain this away? Will I even be able to tell them I’m a ghoul with your _family_ lurking around? What will I do during the holidays when we’re having dinner?” he demands.

“I don’t know!” he admits. “But they love you, and that’ll be enough. I know your brothers wouldn’t let you down. They’ll work with you even if they don’t know everything,” he says.

“They wouldn’t let me down,” he repeats it like a revelation. “That’s right. They’re certainly more reliable than your brother.” Madara’s glad to see his snark is returning. “Where is he?” Tobirama asks, cocking his head.

“He and Hikaku are actually both waiting in the hall to find out their fates,” he explains.

“Excellent. Bring them in,” he snaps.

Tobirama walks back out of the bathroom and into the cramped living space. There’s an old couch and TV set with a space less than five feet wide between them. Madara ushers the two of them through the front door and towards him where he stands against the wall. He grasps one of each of their shoulders and pushes them harshly to their knees in front of Tobirama.

Hikaku is shaking and looking around nervously, but Izuna merely stares ahead, face carefully blank. “Well?” Madara prompts impatiently, glowering down at them from behind.

“I’m very sorry,” Hikaku stammers out, “I shouldn’t have gone along with Izuna. He went too far this time.”

Tobirama looks at him with contemplation. “Let him go Madara,” he says, “I’m sure you can keep him in line. It’s your brother I have a problem with.”

“Consider this your luck day,” Madara growls and steps aside slightly. Hikaku stands quickly, albeit awkwardly, and bolts out the door.

“ _You_ …” Tobirama says darkly. “You don’t really care about me either way, do you? So, let me say this in terms you care about,” he says flatly, “Madara does care a lot about me and what I want. _He_ is absolutely pissed at you. If I don’t forgive you, you can kiss your brother goodbye.”  Izuna’s blank mask cracks at the edges, his eyes becoming uneasy. He says nothing. “I knew that would get to you, but, annoyingly enough, Madara does love you, his troublesome little brother, and you were trying to help, as caught up in your own perspective as you were,” he considers. Tobirama leans down, bringing his face close to Izuna’s as his left eye shifts black from the edges in. “Because of that, for Madara’s sake, I’ll let you off the hook for now, but I swear to you, that if you ever try anything like that again, you won’t even get the chance to worry about Madara’s reaction,” he states matter-of-factly. A firm promise. He pulls away, but the black lingers. “Get out.”

As Izuna runs out, the strength seeps out of him. Fatigued, Tobirama walks to his bed. He’s going back to sleep. He’s likely already missed enough of the last few days classes that at this point that he can’t bring himself to care about missing more.

* * *

Madara and Izuna walk into his dorm-turned-war-room looking anywhere but each other. The fight with the Hyuuga wasn’t over yet when the last saw Tajima, and distracted as they were by what Izuna did to Tobirama, they’re both overdue to check in.

 “The Hyuuga have been pushed back, but things are far from over. Where did the two of you go in the middle of a _war_?” Tajima demands.

“I went to check on where Izuna had gone, and then to clean up his mess,” he defends.

“Right,” Izuna says nervously, “and I went to us the war to help take care of another problem and pioneer medical science.” Madara glares at him venomously.

“Explain.”

“Madara’s boyfriend? Remember? It turns out he found out about the ghoul thing when nii-san fought that first Hyuuga. I was just making so a human didn’t know about us without him having to get a new boyfriend.”

“How exactly did you accomplish that?” he says dryly.

“How nice of you to ask,” he continues, as if he is not terrified of the conversation accidently turning into a fistfight, “I took a Hyuuga and I cut out his kakuhou, and then Hikaku put it in the boyfriend. Actually, it was much harder than it sounds, but I’m pretty sure it worked.”

“I’m certain it worked,” Madara growls.

“I still don’t see why you’re so upset.”

“You don’t want to get into that again, do you?”

“Boys,” Tajima bellows, “Quiet. I can’t believe the bullshit the two of you get into. Madara, you were just going to let a human run around knowing about us?”

“He wasn’t going to tell!”

“And Izuna,” he adds, “Why didn’t you tell me instead of dragging poor Hikaku into one of your half-cocked schemes?”

“I was trying to fix it before nii-san made the situation worse somehow! I thought it would be a good compromise between his plan to do nothing and the ‘kill him’ you would’ve suggested,” he says petulantly.

“God, what am I going to do with you two? You two are going to speak with the others, get your assignments, and prepare to finish off the Hyuuga, and I am going to speak with Madara’s formerly human boyfriend,” he orders, “Text him to come here. I’m certain he knows the way.”

They nod and Izuna eagerly heads over to speak with the council. Madara pulls out his phone with significantly less eagerness. It’s a good sign that his father wants to speak to Tobirama at all, but it could still go horribly wrong. If the council sends him out before the conversation ends he is going to be extremely distracted during the battle.

* * *

 

Tobirama did not appreciate the ominous text he just received. ‘Come to my dorm, it’s important.’ What does that mean? Madara wants him to go where his ghoul family, who’ve already proven themselves violent and crazy, are while the Hyuuga-war-thing is supposedly still going on. He can’t not go, because what if he’s hurt? What is Madara really needs him? Tobirama didn’t think this week could get worse, but if he’s hurt on top of everything else…

He hurries across campus, to Madara’s building. Campus is just as oddly deserted as it was the other night, only now it’s the middle of the day. Maybe there was a faked emergency alert sent through the university’s system to keep the humans away that he missed while he was asleep? He pushes the dorm door open and walks in without pause. Several people turn towards him as he walks through but he pays them no mind. He just wants to find his cryptic boyfriend.

“Madara! Are you okay? What is it?” he frets. Tobirama looks him over closely, and pushes his hands against his abdomen. It doesn’t feel like any of his major organs are hurt.

“I’m fine. I have to leave to help finish things off soon, but there shouldn’t be any problems. Don’t worry. It’s just, uh, Izuna and I spoke with our father,” he explains.

“You spoke with your father? What did you tell him and what did he say?” he says in a rush.

“We just told him about what happened, you know,” Madara mutters, “with you… and Hikaku… and Izuna.”

“About me being some kind of part ghoul?” he quips. The panic from when he awoke is still close to the surface.

“Basically. He wants to talk to you now. Alone,” he says quietly, looking intently at anything but Tobirama. “He’s, uh, in my room.”

He pulls back, removing his hands from where they’d come to a rest on Madara’s chest. “Any advice?”

“Stay calm? Say as little as possible?”

“Right,” he sighs in resignation, “I guess I’ll see you when this whole mess is over.” There are already less Uchiha in the dorm than when he arrived. They must be leaving to ‘finish things off’ like Madara mentioned. The walk across his dorm’s living space to his bedroom is significantly longer than in Tobirama’s dorm, and he appreciates every moment of delay.

He’s barely stepped through the door when someone speaks. “You must be the boyfriend. Name?” the lone man in the room says. He must be Madara’s mysterious father.

“Tobirama,” he replies, “Senju. Nice to meet you…”

“Ah, of course neither of my sons bothered to tell you anything about me, right?” he says with fond exasperation, “Tajima Uchiha, and the pleasure is all mine. With all the trouble, you’ve been causing behind my back I’m glad to see you for myself.”

That doesn’t sound good. “What did you want to speak to me about?”

“Don’t look so nervous, or well, don’t smell so nervous,” he smiles sharply. Nice to know where Izuna gets that from. “You do a great job at keeping a blank face, but you’ll have to account for a ghoul’s sense of smell. At least you ought to have one’s too if you pay attention.”

“Thanks for the advice. I’ll do that,” he says flatly. Just because he can smell him doesn’t mean he’ll let any other tells get lax.

“To get back to the matter at hand,” Tajima continues, smile dropping, “I want to talk to you about the future.”

“The future?”

“Your future, Madara’s future, the Family’s future,” he elaborates, “If you were still human I would have you killed and bet on my son just getting over it, but it’s clear from how things have escalated that he wouldn’t move on so simply. And besides, you’re not human now anyway.”

“What will you do instead?” he questions with narrowed eyes.

“In the pursuit of Madara’s happiness, and the betterment of the Family, and in a way, your betterment,” he replies, “I’m offering you a place in the clan.”

“Why and what precisely does that entail?”

“You’re a ghoul now, I doubt you’ll be able to avoid detection and feed yourself without more experienced help, so it’s to your benefit to join us,” he says lightly. “But I’m sure you’re mostly concerned with what we get out of it. Beyond placating my hot-tempered son, you’re at the top of your class currently,” he drawls and gives a smile that shows too many teeth, “The consensus is that you are a future top-notch lawyer. As you might imagine, good lawyers are always useful to a group like us.”

“A mutually beneficial arrangement?” Tobirama suggests.

“Exactly. We’ll help you, someday you’ll help us, and you get to stay with Madara,” he suggests. “What do you say?”

Considering the first possibility was that he died, this is likely the best solution he could hope for. He’ll have to worry about the details later. “Okay,” he sighs. Tobirama gathers his remaining resolve. “What do I have to do?” he asks.

“I’ll talk to Madara about the details. Stay put and we’ll get back to you,” he orders, “Go home and get some rest, you look like you need it.”

* * *

 

He comes to awareness with the feeling of fingers massaging his scalp. Smells like Madara. It’s tempting to drift back to sleep, but there’s too much going through his head; too many questions to ask. He glances over at Madara, who’s perched on the side of his bed, and stretches out like a large cat with hum. Instead of getting up though, he lies back down with his head in Madara’s lap.

“How did your fight go?” he asks, staring intently up at him.

“I wasn’t hurt and there were no fatalities on our side,” he reassures him, “We won’t have to worry about the Hyuuga anymore either.” He’s giving a self-satisfied smirk, the kind that Tobirama would find annoying from anyone else, but that’s just sexy coming from Madara.

“Did your father talk to you about me?”

“Yes,” he mumbles, smirk dropping away, “I’m really sorry about this mess.” Then he continues with greater confidence, “You won’t have to worry about most of it until the summer. I’ll take you to the Family estate when the semester is over, and until then we’ve set up for you to receive food and for you to be officially moved out of your dorm and into mine.”

“At least we get to spend more time together,” he deadpans.

“This is probably one of the worst ways to ask…” he probes. When Tobirama just stares at him blankly he decides to go on. “Will you marry me?”

“…Seriously?”

“It will help explain you missing holidays to your family, since I assume you don’t want to break contact with them completely,” he asserts, “and I _want_ to marry you know that I don’t have to worry about my father.”

“I suppose I should make the most of a bad situation,” he jokes halfheartedly. “Ask me later in the semester, _properly,_ and I’ll most likely say yes,” he teases.

Madara breaks out into a grin. “Right,” he gushes, “I’ll do that.” He leans down to press a chaste kiss against Tobirama’s lips. “As long as we stick together, we can figure this out,” he says fervently.

“That’s exactly what I thought when I found out you were a ghoul,” he laughs, “and it’s been a disaster since then.”

“Well we’re still figuring out, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” he smiles, mood finally lifting in spite of himself, “I love you.”

Madara resumes playing with his hair. “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how did this chapter get so long? pls leave a comment or send me an ask at my tumblr godaime-obito :)


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